


The Invitation

by saddestboner



Series: in the shadows [16]
Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, F/M, Gen, Gender or Sex Swap, Not!Fic, Other, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 20:09:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13795374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saddestboner/pseuds/saddestboner
Summary: He was the one who left, after all. He’s got no room to blame anyone else.





	The Invitation

**Author's Note:**

> I found this unfinished bit in my discarded writing folder. I don't think Rick would go to their wedding even if he was invited.

Rick almost tosses the invitation in the trash because he doesn’t recognize the handwriting or the return address— _Ruth Hayes? who the fuck is **Ruth Hayes**?_ —but something about it draws him to a stop. 

Rick rescues the envelope from the rubber trash basket under the sink. He holds it in his hand—heavy cardstock, crème, edged in silver—but doesn’t dare open it. It’s addressed to **Erica Dente** , in a different hand than the one that wrote out the return address in the upper left-hand corner. Rick would know _this_ handwriting anywhere.

He tears open the envelope and a glossy photo collage falls out, onto the kitchen counter.

It’s Max. His familiar, lopsided smile hits Rick in the gut like a ninety-five mile-an-hour fastball. He has an armful of cats— _since when did he become a cat person?_ Rick wonders—with dichromatic eyes. The statuesque, beaming blonde by his side has a German Shepherd on a lead. The dog has one brown eye and one blue one too. 

“Please join Buster, Daisy, and Bo in celebrating the marriage of their parents, Maxwell Martin Scherzer and Erica Ann Hayes,” Rick reads aloud, flipping the card over. A tiny scrap of paper falls out and floats to the countertop. Rick picks it up, ignoring how unsteady his fingers suddenly are, and flattens it.

_I really hope you can make it. I miss you & I want you to meet Erica, I think you’d like each other. Ryan & Vanessa & Justin & Kate will be there too. Let me know. — Max_

Rick sets the card down. He hasn’t spoken—or texted—a single word to Max since he walked out over a year ago. A tiny, niggling voice in the back of his head wonders, _it took him just a year to replace you?_ but Rick pushes that voice aside. He was the one who left, after all. He’s got no room to blame anyone else.

**Author's Note:**

> The author of this piece intends no insult, slander, or copyright infringement, and is not profiting from this work. This story is a complete work of fiction and does not necessarily reflect on the nature of the individuals featured. This is for entertainment purposes only. If you found this story while Googling your name or the names of your friends, hit the back button now.


End file.
